Free vacation helps healing process for troops

Five-day resort trip puts veterans, their families in contact with others in same position

ZOE SCHWARTZ, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Published
5:30 am CDT, Monday, September 17, 2007

Wounded soldier Scott Morgan with his wife, Melanie, and his son, Hunter, age 6, at their San Antonio home.

Wounded soldier Scott Morgan with his wife, Melanie, and his son, Hunter, age 6, at their San Antonio home.

Photo: ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA, For The Chronicle

Photo: ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA, For The Chronicle

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Wounded soldier Scott Morgan with his wife, Melanie, and his son, Hunter, age 6, at their San Antonio home.

Wounded soldier Scott Morgan with his wife, Melanie, and his son, Hunter, age 6, at their San Antonio home.

Photo: ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA, For The Chronicle

Free vacation helps healing process for troops

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

For Scott Morgan, the journey from the explosion in Iraq that shattered his legs to a luau and dolphin dance in Maryland was one very strange and bittersweet voyage.

On Feb. 18, 2004, two days before he was scheduled to return to Texas from Iraq, a mortar attack threw the Army sergeant into a brick wall, ripped shrapnel through his body and broke both femurs.

Recovering later at Fort Sam Houston, he endured liver and kidney failure, partial hearing, vision and short-term memory loss, among other ailments. He has had more than 30 surgeries in his titanium-outfitted legs.

The 36-year-old San Antonio soldier, who specialized in searching for weapons of mass destruction, doesn't regret his initial eagerness to go to war, despite the harrowing consequences. But he does acknowledge that he needs to leave his worries at home every now and then.

Morgan got his wish when his family was among 23 military families chosen for a free week of leisure activities called Destination R&R.

"There's a lot of people who will buy you lunch or offer you a cup of coffee, but very few people will fly you across the country for five days at a five-star resort," said Josh McCart, a disabled veteran from North Carolina.

The roughly 100 participants received spa treatments, a luau-themed dance party and a trip to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. They saw a dolphin show at the Baltimore Aquarium and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle showcase. Every family received a free laptop and two years of Internet service.

The retreat created a safe space for families to bond with others like them.

"We could cry together, laugh together and listen to each other," said mother-of-four Freda Tyler, whose husband, Zachary, returned to Richmond, Va., after he contracted a parasitic disease called leishmaniasis from sandfly bites. "It really gives us a sense of encouragement."

Lots of support

The four Texas families, in particular, connected closely at the retreat. The Morgans discovered that they live only 3 miles from fellow San Antonio veteran
Daniel Robles
and his family, and their kids are almost the same age. The other Texas veterans,
Hugo Almaraz
of Fort Hood and
David Kiel
of El Paso, also came with wives and children in tow.

Robles, who last year lost both of his legs in an explosion in Iraq, said he's been overwhelmed by the support of his fellow Texans. On a recent outing to the movies, strangers unexpectedly paid for his and wife Ernestine's tickets. Another couple insisted on purchasing their popcorn. "We were thinking, 'C'mon guys, let us at least pay for something,' " said Robles.

Blewitt has donated more than $1 million to Destination R&R. Last month's session was the first, after two years of planning. He hopes to raise money to underwrite more of them.

Veterans "are the soul of the country," he said. "If it wasn't for you there'd be no us."